Page 361 - The Complete Rigger’s Apprentice

Figure 10-18. To make a 3L 5 5B knot, make three
turns around a hand, push the middle turn under the
left one (A), pass the end over and under (B), push the
middle turn under the right one and pass the end over
and under (C), and once more push the middle turn
under the left one and pass the end over and under
(D). Lead the end back into the knot parallel to the
standing part and follow all the way around to dou-
ble and triple the knot (E).

look at Figure 10-18, which shows how to make
the three-lead-by-five-bight knot. Three turns are
taken around the hand and the end and two bights
are braided together. Pass the end three times, as
shown, and you can lead it alongside the standing
part to form an endless braid. But pass the end four
times and the braids don’t match up. So a harmonic
sequence—the end traveling in a certain pattern so
that it comes back into sync with itself—is what
makes a Turk’s Head work. This harmonic sequence
will occur whenever the number of leads and the
number of bights have no common divisor; a 3L 5
4B or 3L 5 5B knot is possible; 3L 5 6B or 3L 5 9B
knot isn’t. Understanding this mathematical proviso
is valuable when you want to make a knot of certain
proportions.
But let’s return to finish up that 3L 5 5B knot.
The end lays in alongside the standing part to
complete the knot, and if it continues to parallel
the standing part, going under where the standing
part goes under, over where it goes over, and never
crossing it, then the knot will be doubled (Figure
10-18E). Go around once more and the knot is

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